Uzbek-founded Defex Robotics joins Y Combinator
Defex is developing industrial robots that insert electrical connectors and check the finished connection, led by co-founder and CEO Husan Mavlonov.
9 Nov 2026
Defex Robotics, founded by Uzbek entrepreneur Husan Mavlonov, has joined Y Combinator. Mavlonov lists the accelerator’s W27 cohort alongside Defex on his professional website, while the company identifies itself as YC-backed. The acceptance was reported by Uzbek startup publication Pivot on November 7.
The company is working on a specific manufacturing job: plugging electrical connectors into circuit boards and wiring harnesses, then checking that the connection is secure. Its proposed system combines cameras, contact sensing and electrical testing within a robot workcell, bringing assembly and inspection into the same operation.
On Defex’s product website, the sequence starts with locating a connector and its matching port. The robot then inserts the plug, checks the latch and tests the connection. Cameras inspect the board and the plug held by the robot, while the system records the result for each unit. The company is inviting manufacturers to test its prototype.
Mavlonov’s background spans robotics and engineering research. His profile lists research at the University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, including work on optical diagnostics in Shanghai. He dates his role as Defex’s co-founder and CEO to March 2026 and was a Silkroad Fellows participant that summer.
In an August engineering essay, Mavlonov described how the team moved from visual inspection towards physical assembly. Defex had developed an inspection prototype; the next milestone outlined in that account was an instrumented connector bench, starting with one connector family before trying a related variant.
That plan treats preparation and testing as part of the robot’s learning process. Parts must arrive in a known position, the completed connection must be checked, and the equipment must be ready for another attempt. The team’s aim is to use those recorded attempts to make adapting a robot to a related task less labour-intensive.
Mavlonov is also scheduled to speak about connector-assembly robots at Boston Robot Hackers on November 12. The meeting at Artisans Asylum gives the team another opportunity to share its work as Defex prepares for YC’s W27 cohort.